Improved railway-car coupling



A. L. SPF-AR. 1 RAILWAY GAR COUPLING.

No. 97,242. Patented Nov. 23, 1869,

772%aess; lzb flw A. LEWIS SPEAR, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ,ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, JOHN STEPHENS, JR, AND ROYAL L. LEWIS, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 97,242, dated November 23, 1869.

rmrisovnn RAILWAY-CAR consume,

--tou The Schedule referred to In these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom it may concern Be it known that I, A. LEWIS SPEAK, of Flint, in the county of Gencsee, and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway- Car Couplings; and I do declare that the following is a true and accurate description thereof, refercncebcing had to the accompanying drawings, andto the letters of reference marked thereon, and being a. part of this specification My invention relates to automatic car-couplers, and consists in constructing the. coupling-bolt with an are POW-110ml on its front end, a neck with shoulders on each side, near its centre, and weighted on the under side of its rear end, and in supporting it byits.11eckin a nearing, with a. hinged upper piece for holding it securely in place, and allowing it to be readily removed and placed in the opposite bumper-head, andin enclosing the whole inside of the bumper-flame.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view, with a portion broken away, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section.

I construct the frames A of my bumper-heads exactly alike.

The heads B, I make with a vertical oblong opening, and flaring on their outerends.

Near the centre of the frames A, I place a crosspiecc, G, with a semicircular hearing, ,1, on its upper side, and immediately over the cross-piece or hearing G, I hinge, at g, another cross-piece, G, with a corresponding semicircular opening, c, on its under side, arranged so as to come immediately over the semicircular bearing G", as clearly shown in fig. 2, and

to be locked down ovcrit, as clearly shown in fig. 1, so

that when the upper or hinged piece G is brought down, the semicircular openings 9 and 0 will come together, and form a circular opening or hole.

I construct a coupling-bolt, O, with .an arrow-head, D, on its front end, a neck with shoulders or] each side or entirely around it, near its centre,and with its rear end E heavily weighted on its under side, as clearly shown in both figures, the under side of the couplingbolt being that under the flat side of the arrow-head. This bolt 0, I' place with its neck'in the semicircular hearing or opening of the cross-piece G, and then bring over the hinged piece G, and securely, fasten it there.

The coupling-bolt O is made sufiiciently long to project far enough beyond the bumper-head to couple with the bumper-head of the opposite frame A, which is done in this manner; As the arrow-head of the coupling-bolt strikes into the flaring oblong opening of the opposite head, it is turned in line with the openin and passes through, and when through, its Weighb end causes it to resume its original posit-ion, and the coupling is complete.

It may be uncoupled by means of a rod, F, so at tached as to turn it for that purpose.

As both frames A of the opposite bumper-heads are constructed exactly alike, with similar fixed crosspieces G, and hinged pieces G, it is'obvious that the same coupling-bolt may be used at will in either frame or head, and with the same advantage.

It will he noticed that my coupling-bolt is constructed of a single piece, and that it is located wholly within the frame, and is thuscompletely protected. The whole forms a simple, compact, automatic coupler.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, is-

The coupling-bolt 0, made of a single piece, with its head arrow-shaped, its rearcnd heavicston its under side, and provided with a neck, in combination with the frame A, having a vertical oblong flaring hcad, a bearing cross-piece, G, with a hinged locking crosspiece, G, all constructed and arranged as herein described.

A. LEWIS SPEAB.

Witnesses:

W. Scrnvnssox, HENRY 0. GAY. 

